Month: July 2015

The basic premise of a map is to assit us in navigating from one point to another, giving vital information illustrating whatever might be between those points. Mapping is guided direction, whether that leads to exterior terrain as in terra firma, the crevices of our oceans or the exploration of our endless universe.

But maps also serve to navigate the inner worlds of the human being, that landscape that constitutes us as humans. Navigate Maps enjoys reporting on the mappings of our outer worlds, but how does mapping apply to our inner worlds?

Bio Mapping
As humans we all go off the wall once in a while – how about off the map? Health care practitioners have constructed a guideline known as a bio-map indicating healthy parameters for “acceptable” behavior. Also referred to as emotional mapping, it is used as a diagnostic tool when assisting an individual through the territories of life. As we all know, life is not always a chauffeured party bus ride and most of us should use all the guidance we can get. Read More

Everyone appreciates good directions. Maps serve every aspect of a society from small villages and their surrounding areas, to huge metropolises. Community maps are references that everyone can relate with. Simple diagrams of streets, roads, landmarks, trade routes and all other points of importance are included on an ordinary map. We tend to take maps for granted, but without them how could we develop?

My friend who owns a St Catharines catering company used to say that people’s innate sense of direction, was initially guided by observing the sky. Similar to navigating your way around the kitchen, physical maps have been discovered which date back thousands of years, but the constellations were our earliest navigational references. Relying on the sky to get a bigger picture, our ancestors began to observe the position of the celestial bodies over geographic landmarks.

The first maps don’t have the same orientations that we commonly see today. For example, directions were not depicted as north or south, but by the placement of the sun, the moon and the stars at certain times of the day or year. Eventually trails were recorded indicated by the bent tree sampling, the hill, mountain, meadow or stream. The North Star, Polaris gave guidance at night and the cycles of the moon offered visual references.

Since time began many important civilization have inhabited the coastlines of the continents. Many of them have been lost over the centuries and only recently re-discovered. Previously unaware of the extent to which ancient history has been buried under tons of water, scientist are surprised at the magnitude of their findings. These ancient ghost towns are now telling secrets long towed away by the tide.

Contemporary equipment like sonar, has given them a peek into these missing worlds. Through sonar mapping, divers are able to collect data that otherwise would be buried under sand and millenniums of ocean sea life.

Maps are powerful tools used in just about everything we do. No, you don’t need a map to get out of bed, but the builders of your home needed a blueprint to follow to make your home a reality. That in all ways, was like using a map. It got them from the ground up to the finished project.

3D printers construct objects from a schematic or aka a map. In the less traditional sense of the word map, Navigate maps always comes across interesting stories about treasure maps. Join me in a little fun exploring one of the most ancient uses of maps and I promise it will be more fun than a St Louis limo ride!